The Colour Black
by PouncingPadfoot13
Summary: The Marauders are in their 6th year when someone new comes to Hogwarts.  Someone with a past, someone with a story.  There is something about her that Sirius just can't figure out, something that draws him to her.  What could it be?  Sirius/OC
1. Chapter 1

Marlene Mckinnion stood in front of her bathroom mirror studying her reflection. The bags under her eyes were proof of her sleepless night, and the many that had preceded it. She bit down of her bottom lip as she nervously ran a hand through her dark hair. She had very dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black with a slight reddish tint that was accentuated by small streaks of burgundy and blonde. Her eyes were puffy and red; she splashed her face with cold water as she tried to banish all remnants of the nightmare that had kept her up all night. Staring into the mirror she took in the delicately sculpted face; her high cheek bones, the small aristocratic looking nose, the clear pale skin. She examined herself and sneered. She hated her face, hated what it presented and what it betrayed. The only thing she liked were her pale green eyes, yet those weren't even hers. With one last look at her reflection, she walked into her room and collapsed on her bed.

She curled up on her side as she let herself dwell on what today was. The day she's been dreading, or waiting for, all summer. The day she starts at her new school, Hogwarts. Until recently Marlene lived in Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S.A. With the stirrings and events in England, her dad had decided to move to London, to be nearer to the 'family'. She hated it, hated everything. _It's so dreary here_. Sure, Boston wasn't the warmest place, but there she had felt alive. Here, she felt drained. There was nothing here that resonated with her, just a constant feeling of being watched and being out of place. _Though I wouldn't doubt it if I _was_ being watched._ She thought.

With a huff of aggravation she walked into the closet, she still couldn't think of anything here as 'hers'. The room didn't even look anything like her room at home. No paintings, no random scribbles of thought, no pictures, only the blank red to reflect what she was feeling. She sorted through the mass of clothing that spilled out of the trunk until she found the outfit she was seeking, jeans and her favorite tank top. She also grabbed her black hoodie. In a matter of minutes she was dressed and ready to go. She was never one to spend hours in front of the mirror fretting over her appearance. With one sweeping look she looked for anything she may have missed. Throwing everything into her trunk, she shrunk it along with her easel and case to a more manageable size. She put the miniature items into her pocket as she got the basket ready.

"Ochre! Come here darling, we have to go." She looked around and soon spotted who she was looking for. Her little black kitten was quietly pattering across the floor to where Marlene was sitting next to the basket. He rubbed himself against her leg as he purred his contentment. Marlene scooped him up and buried her face into his spotted coat. "We got a journey ahead of us, but we'll see it through won't we?" All Ochre could do was purr his agreement as Marlene settled him into the basket. Seeing that he was comfortable, she settled the cover on as she took one last look around.

Glad to be gone, she held the basket in her arms as she disappeared with a little _POP!_and next she was standing in front of the big scarlet Hogwarts Express.

She didn't bother looking around at the people milling around. She was already sick to her stomach; this was the last place she wanted to be. Without looking around she headed for the train. She climbed up the stairs dragging her trunk along, trying to attract as little attention to herself as possible. Upon entering the beautifully decorated corridor, she headed to the back of the train where she believed she could find an empty compartment. Finally she found one in the very back and quickly entered.

She settled Ochre onto one of the seats and let him out. He popped his head up and didn't seem to be startled by the change in scenery. "Always the brave one aren't you dear?" She murmured as she pet him between the eyes. Ochre responded with a louder purr as he snuggled into her hand. Marlene removed the objects from her pocket and returned them to their original size as she stowed them over head.

After everything was in place, Marlene zipped up her sweater as she settled across three of the seats and closed her eyes. Ochre quickly settled against her side as he too drifted into sleep.

Lily Evans quickly kissed her parents goodbye and ran off to catch up with her friend Dorcus Meadows. After a few minutes of running with her trunk slowing her down, she managed to grab her friends arm and huff out breathlessly,

"Dori! Didn't...You...Hear...Me...Yelling?"

"Oh my god! Lily!" Dori shouted. She's always been on the loud side, "I'm so sorry! I didn't hear you!" She hugged Lily while trying to maintain her handle on her trunk.

"It's o.k." Lily giggled as she returned the hug. "Let's just find Eli and find a compartment before you kill me haha"

"Wait! Don't you have to go to the prefects compartment?" Dorcus tried sounding offended.

"Hahaha Yes, I have to go there first, but I'm going to come back to meet you guys. You think I don't want to spend the train ride with you? How could you?" Lily said dramatically.

"Ok. Ok. Hahaha. Wait! I think I see... Yeah! Hey! ELI! ELIZABETH OVER HERE!" Dori waved her hands franticly. Elizabeth looked around for the source of the voice. She spotted them and quickly headed over.

"Lily! Dori! Oh my god i've missed you guys! " Elizabeth yelled as she ran to embrace the both of them.

"I've missed you too! But it's only been a week." Pointed out Dori.

"Haha Dori. Wow. Leave Eli alone. C'mon! Let's go find a compartment! The train's leaving soon!" Lily grabbed her trunk and hurried to the train. They walked down the corridor looking for an empty compartment. Finally Lily found one at the very end. They were taken aback to see a very pretty girl sprawled out across the seats. As they stood at a loss on what to do, the silence was broken as Dori accidently slammed the door shut and the sleeping person sprang up, frightened. The black kitten looked up sleepily as he tried to figure out why his sleep was disturbed. Marlene was startled to see three other girls standing in the compartment. She settled into one of the seats and gathered Ochre into her lap. She smiled hesitantly at the girls. Lily was the first to return the smile and introduce them.

"Hi, I'm sorry about that. I'm Lily Evans, this is Dorcus Meadows..."

Dori cut her off, "Call me Dori, I hate the name _Dorcus_."

"Yeah true. She's the clumsy one," Dori stuck her tongue out as Lily just continued on. "and this is Elizabeth Applewood, or Eli for short." Eli gave a little wave and ducked her head, she was always a little shy. "We were wondering if we could share this compartment, all the others are full." Lily explained.

"Um..Yeah. Sure. Oh Yeah, I'm Marlene Mckinnion." The girls beamed at here and settled into the compartment. After all the trunks were stowed, all the attention was back on Marlene. Lily was the first to break the ice.

"So..Marlene. I haven't seen you here before, what house are you in?" asked Lily.

"I don't know yet." Marlene answered. "I just transferred here from a school in Boston. Dumbledore doesn't usually accept new 6th year students, but he let me in cause I had good grades and stuff."

"Speaking of good grades," Eli broke in, "Lily, don't you have a prefect's meeting?"

"Oh, Shoot!" Lily Jumped up. "I got to go. Bye guys! I'll be back soon!" After the door slammed shut Marlene said,

"So that's...Lily? Right? She seems really nice."

"Yeah she's nice to everybody." Eli answered. "So this is your first time at Hogwarts?" Marlene nodded. "Wow. You got a lot to learn. Did your old school have 7 years and O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S?"

"Not exactly, but Dumbledore said it's not much different."

"Well just stick with us then, we'll help you out. Just stay away from the Slytherins. They're a nasty bunch."

Dori nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and don't forget the Marauders." Both Dori and Eli gave a little giggle.

"Um. Did i miss something?" Marlene asked. "Who are the Marauders?"

Dori smiled. "Well the Marauders are a bunch of guys from Gryffindor. There's James Potter, Peter Pettigrew..."

"Don't forget Remus!" Eli broke in.

"Yeah" Dori said with a slight smirk toward Eli. She slightly blushed. "Remus Lupin and Si.." Dori was interrupted by a loud **BANG**as someone slammed the compartment door open.

"Honey! I'm Hooome!"


	2. The One with the Encounter

"Honey! I'm Hooome!" A tall guy with long black hair that fell into his eyes literally skipped into the compartment. Two other students tentatively followed him in, the last one shutting the door behind him. The taller one seemed embarrassed by his friend's behavior; the short and slightly fat one seemed to envy him. The guy who had started all the commotion plopped down on the seat next to Marlene. He leaned against the windowsill looking at Marlene saying,

"So. Who's this new babe?" He looked her over. Marlene just rolled her eyes. She got enough of this in Boston and never could put up with it.

"My names not 'babe'," She said with obvious annoyance and pointedly moved away from him, "It's Marlene. And who are you exactly?"

"Well, a little feisty are we? That's fine with me. Well Miss. Marlene. I'm Sirius Black." His expression made it clear that she should recognize the name and start worshipping his feet. His smile slipped a little when she just raised one eyebrow and gave him a bored expression.

"So? Is that supposed to mean something?" Everyone started laughing at Sirius' expense. He just gave them all disgusted looks.

"Really Sirius, you can't expect her to know of you! I mean, c'mon!" One of the guys said. He held out his hand and said to Marlene. "I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. I apologize for my friend's obvious stupidity. We can never really figure out how he made it passed 1st year." Marlene gave him a friendly smile and shook his hand. Sirius just stared at the scene open-mouthed at his friend's betrayal and stammered.

"Remus!" Sirius gasped, "How could you? I'm wounded." With that he pretended to faint back into the seat with one arm draped over his eyes. Remus just shook his head with an amused smirk on his face. Dori and Eli just giggled at the two while Marlene gave Sirius a disgusted look.

The embarrassing moment for Sirius was interrupted by the slamming of the compartment door as a fuming Lily came storming in. She was followed by a tall black-haired guy who was smirking. Sirius jumped up and squealed as if Christmas had come early.

"Prongsy! And dear Lily!" Lily stopped short and gave Sirius a look of utter loathing.

"What is he doing here?" Lily said. She swung around and snapped at the guy behind her. "And why are you following me, Potter?" She spat out his last name as if was the most disturbing thing she had ever said. The raven-haired guy just smiled at her calmly and said.

"Well Lily," He put emphasis on her first name. "Seeing as my friends are here, I'm simply joining them. It has nothing to do with you, though you are looking especially lovely today." He gave her a wink and went to sit across from Sirius. Lily sat on the other side of the compartment and refused to look his way. Potter grinned amusedly at Sirius and noticed Marlene for the first time, and noticed the way that Sirius was looking at her. With another quick look at his friend, he turned his attention to Marlene.

"I don't believe we've met before, I'm James, James Potter. I see you've met Sirius." He grinned at Sirius, who was looking at her with intense concentration as though she were trying to figure something out. Marlene, unaware of Sirius, shook James' hand.

"I'm Marlene Mckinnion. You're friends with this… thing? How can you stand it?" James just laughed and slapped Sirius on the back.

"You get used to it. Actually though," James looked at Sirius "he doesn't usually act like this. Sirius, what's wrong with you?" Sirius seemed to snap out of his weird concentration and shook his head.

"Wait what? Oh nothing James, so how was the meeting?" Sirius asked.

"Eh, same ol. Stupid Slytherins were acting as if they owned the world. Ugh, I can't see how you're even related to them Sirius, Bellatrix and Regulas make me sick." James shuddered. Marlene gave a slight shudder herself that no one noticed.

"Yuck, don't you dare compare them to me James. As far as I'm concerned they're of no relation to me. They should just rot and let the world be." Sirius made a face as he then turned his attention back to Marlene. "So Marli, tell me about yourself. Any one in your life I should know about?" He moved closer to her.

"Don't call me Marli, I don't even know you. And that's none of your business." She made a point to move away from Sirius. He just moved closer to her and kept pestering her.

"Well how can it work between us if you don't tell me? Maybe we just need time together, you know, alone." He gave her a wink. This just pushed Marlene over the edge. She was stressed from the day as it was and she didn't want to put up with this. Marlene gave him a dirty look as she got up and moved to the door.

"Get this one thing Sirius Black, there is no us and will not be anytime soon. Get over yourself you prat." With that she exited the compartment making sure to slam the door shut behind her. Ochre hissed at the two boys and settled into Eli's lap purring while she pet him.

"Good one Padfoot, she seemed to just love you." Remus said as he shook his head at Sirius. Sirius just gave him a pouty look. "She'll come around" He said as he then smirked, "They always do."

Lily just gave him a disgusted look. "Why are you here? Can't you just leave us be? God, the two of you are disgusting!" Both Sirius and James just looked at Lily with fake shock.

"Lily!" Sirius exclaimed pretending to be hurt, "How dare you! I'm wounded!" For the second time Sirius fell back onto the seat pretending to faint. James looked up at Lily with an amused look.

"Calm down Lily, we were just kidding."

"Well James, you guys are just plain immature and it's getting annoying. God, grow up." With that she walked out of the compartment in search of Marlene, making sure to slam the door behind her.

Remus looked at the two boys with amusement, "Smooth guys, very very smooth."

…

Marlene slammed the door shut and searched for the one place she knew she could be alone, the lavatory. Once she found it and made sure it was empty, she locked the door. She was beyond stressed. Clenching her hands into fists, she fueled her anger into the power that was struggling to be free. The lights flickered as the little room was overwhelmed by raw power. The facets all turned on instantly, pouring boiling hot water into the sinks. The water increased at an alarming rate, the water reaching temperatures it wasn't supposed to. The water pooled over the edges of the sinks and started flooding the floor.

'_Stop this! Marlene! Stop this right now!_' A voice shouted in the back of her head. '_Control the power! Don't let it overwhelm you!_' Marlene tried as hard as she could to ignore the voice, she liked being reckless and letting her magic run free. '_You'll destroy everything. Remember what happened last time..._' This statement sent shocks through her body. The power wavered and disappeared altogether. The water stopped flowing and the only sound that could be heard was the quiet gurgle as the water drained. The lights returned to normal and didn't flicker again. Marlene stood in the middle of the room, panting. She wasn't going to lose control again. No, not like last time. She unclenched her hands, her nails had left crescent moon shaped indentions in her palms. Her face was deathly white. A quiet knock sounded on the door. Marlene whipped around her eyes wide with fear; the power had brought back bad memories. She calmed down when she heard a familiar voice say,

"Marlene? It's me Lily. Are you in there?" Marlene breathed a sigh of relief and went to let Lily in. After Marlene had locked the door, Lily spoke.

"Did Sirius really get you that angry? I didn't think he annoyed you that much."

"It wasn't Sirius that got me angry. Yeah, he annoyed me a lot, but it was just the people he reminded me of that really just got me upset."

"Like who?"

"Just some people I knew a while back. They thought that they can get whatever they want; make me do what they wanted. It just really affected my childhood."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll have a better time at Hogwarts. It really is a good school."

"Yeah, so far it's been good. I just hope it doesn't turn out badly."

"Why would it?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised."

"Hmm. You could be right. Those Slytherins are a nasty bunch. Just watch out for them. Do you want to head back now?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's now or never." Marlene unlocked and exited the lavatory. She and Lily walked toward their compartment in silence, both wrapped up in their own separate thoughts. They entered the next car and were stopped short by a trio of people. The leader took a step forward, spinning a long black wand in his pale fingers. The two others stepped back to stand on either side.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my dear cousin Marlene." Lily took a step back with wide eyes as she recognized Lucius Malfoy. Marlene however didn't have any type of emotion written on her face. You could only tell she was angry by her fisted hands, the knuckles white as she tried to control herself. Lily put a hand on Marlene's arm.

"Marlene." She whispered. "Let me.." Marlene cut her off.

"No."

"But you don't…"

"No. I'll take care of it." She released her arm from Lily's grip and shifted her feet into a more balanced position.

"Yes Mudblood. Do keep out of affairs that aren't your own. You stupid..." Lucius sneered.

"Malfoy." Marlene cut him off before he could insult Lily any further. "Leave Lily alone. It's obviously me you want to talk to."

"Marlene, what is with the last names? Can't you greet a family member with a certain amount of civility? After all we been through, you should at least have the decency to call me by my first name. And yes, your father wanted me to introduce you to the right people. But I see I've come too late. You've already met the trash of Hogwarts." He indicated Lily, who was standing behind Marlene.

"Humph. He failed to mention that you, or the Blacks," she indicated the people behind him, "would be here. But I guess that was the plan, wasn't it? Just not tell me and expect me to obey completely. And I don't consider you as family. My family died long ago. And to you, Malfoy, the name is McKinnon, never Marlene. Now get out of my face before you make me sick." She went to turn and exit the way she had come, but before she could move, Lucius had lunged forward and had pinned her against the wall with one hand at her throat, the other was around his wand that was digging into her cheek.

"What was that Marlene? Rejecting your own family! How is this possible? I may just have to owl your father and tell him about your little, shall we say, tantrum?"

"My father can go rot in hell. Along with the rest of you Pure-Blooded cowards." She said through clenched teeth. Malfoy knocked her head against the wall and squeezed her throat even tighter.

"What is this? So quick to forget and deny what you are? Trying to forget that you yourself are a Malfoy? Let me help you remember. Finite Incantatem!" He pointed his wand at her hair and her eyes, removing the Concealment Charm she had placed on them. As if someone had dropped a bucket of water on her head, her hair faded to a silver-blonde, her green eyes to a deep grey.

"Now, isn't that better? Oh and just so you never forget your place again," He pointed his wand at her throat, "Seiben! Oh and you should expect an owl from your father soon. He expects to hear word of you acceptance into Slytherin. Where the rest of your family is." That pushed Marlene over the edge. With a glint in her eye, she thrust her hands forward toward her three harassers. Lucius and the two other were thrown against the opposite wall. They were held still by phantom hands at their throats.

"Now, this is much better, let's get this straight! I AM NOT A MALFOY! I refuse to have anything to do with that filthy 'Pure-blood is better' antics that the Malfoys live and breathe!" The woman on the right of Lucius hissed through her teeth.

"You should..be proud..to be part..of the Malfoy family! Think of the Honor!" Marlene cut her off.

"Honor? Bellatrix, is that what you call it? And what do you know of Honor? No one in the house of Black can even claim to know the meaning of the word 'Honor'! No one except maybe Sirius and Andromeda." This time it was the man on Lucius' left who hissed.

"What Regulas? Don't like hearing the names of your brother and aunt? Sirius and Andromedea Black? But wait, isn't it Andromeda Tonks? And how is your cousin Nymphadora Tonks? " She smirked with satisfaction at the sound of Bellatrix's snarl of outrage.

"THEY ARE DEAD! Do not speak of those blood-traitors! That bastard of a child is no part of the Black family! Do not even link the names of the noble house of Black, and that filthy Mudblood Tonks! Let me out of these stupid bounds! I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Bellatrix tried to free herself, but wasn't able to win against Marlene's strong spell.

"Now, now Bellatrix. Didn't your mother tell you to play nice?"

"My mother's name is befouled by your lips. Don't you dare mention her, you damned Blood-traitor."

"Your mother's name was befouled enough before I was ever born. But her worst deed was bringing your pitiful self into existence. Tell me, how did she ever bare the shame of knowing that she had done such a horrible thing?" Bellatrix couldn't answer; she was too busy screaming obscenities and threats.

"You're going to regret this." Lucius said through gritted teeth. "You can count of your father hearing of this."

"My father can shove it down his throat. I don't give a damn what you, he, or anyone else related to you says anymore. I'm through with all of you. Now GO!"

She lifted the spell and they crumpled to the ground. Lucius quickly rose and dusted himself off. He was about to make another move towards Marlene, when he noticed her wand less fists. Bellatrix and Regulas made to lung forward to punish her for her insults, but Lucius grabbed them and shoved them out the door. His eyes were wide with shock. Bellatrix looked back to give Marlene a threatening stare, but she too noticed Marlene's hands and paled. She quickly followed Lucius.

As soon as the corridor was empty of the Slytherins, Marlene fell into a heap on the floor. Huge sobs shook her body as she tried to control the wave of memories and emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She squeezed her upper body as if she were trying to hold herself together. Lily could only look on open-mouthed as her brain tried to process what had just happened.

After a few minutes of observing Marlene's quivering body, she knelt by Marlene's side and put her hand on the sobbing girl's shoulder.

Marlene soon gained control over her emotions. She was aware of Lily's hand on her shoulder, but she didn't shrug it off. Grasping what comfort she could from Lily, she focused on calming her nerves. After awhile she was set, and looked up at Lily.

"So, is it true?" Lily asked when she saw that Marlene was cool and collected.

"Is what true?" A spiteful tone had slipped into her voice by accident. Marlene tried to fight back her irritation when she saw that Lily was judging her. "The fact that I'm a Malfoy? My mother was a Malfoy, but my father was from Transylvania. I've never done anything to be considered part of the family; they see me as a sort of failure. I'm not complaining."

"Oh." Lily said after a moment. "Are you related to Sirius? Before you said you didn't know him, but you seemed to recognize his brother and cousin pretty well."

"I didn't know him for his reputation. I'd met him once at a stupid Pure-Blood gathering. I'd seen Regulus and Bellatrix one time too many. The Blacks and Malfoys are only distantly related by blood, but I'm not related to the Blacks at all. The blood in me is too diluted to count. I'll explain it later." Marlene ran a hand through her hair. The silver-blonde hair darkened once again to the dark color it was before. Rubbing her hands over eyes and the grey brightened to a brilliant green. Lily looked on in amazement.

"How can you do magic without a wand? I was wondering when you were dealing with the Slytherins."

"You mean you've never done it?" Marlene asked with a questioning look. Lily just shook her head no. "Really?" Marlene continued. "I'll explain it later. Right now I think we should head back to the compartment. Oh, and would you mind not telling the others. I'd prefer telling them in my own time."

"Don't worry. I won't."


End file.
